Taliban Releases Map of Territory It Controls in Afghanistan

The Taliban Islamic fundamentalist movement has published a ‘report’, which determines various regions of Afghanistan, controlled by the group, as well as contested territories and areas that are under the influence of the Afghan government.

The report, entitled ‘Percent of Country under the control of Mujahideen’, was published on the Voice of Jihad website, which is considered as the group’s official web-resource, on March 26. The publication was allegedly made by “the Commission for Cultural Affairs of the Islamic Emirate after a long rigorous research.”

Though, the report may be seen as propaganda, according to data compiled by FDD’s Long War Journal, it is enough appropriate to the reality.

Only 349 Afghan districts of the 400 known are covered by the report. FDD’s Long War Journal was not able to match 38 districts, listed by the Taliban, with known districts throughout the country, and the movement did not provide the status of some 13 districts. Therefore, it was impossible to determine the status of 51 districts.

FDD’s Long War Journal mapped the Taliban’s report (see the map above), as well as color-coded and categorized the districts as follows:

Source: FDD’s Long War Journal

The Taliban claims that 34 districts, including the district centers, are under its full control, while other 167 districts are partially (between 40 to 99 percent of the territory) controlled by the group. The movement also has a significant presence (10 to 39 percent) in other 52 districts and a minimal presence in six more districts (1 to 9 percent). According to the Taliban, the group is not presented in 89 districts, however, conducts “guerrilla activities” in some of those provinces.

The Taliban’s report indicates that the movement controls areas in 16 of 34 Afghan provinces, in total, 211 districts are controlled or contested. The percentages range from 10 in Faryab and Maimana to 97 in Uruzgan and Tarinkot.

The report may seem as propaganda, however, it largely matches reports of media, operating on the territory of Afghanistan. In addition, in early February, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) issued a report, according to which the Taliban controls, contests, or influences 171 districts.